Alison Sweeney: 30,749 Lbs. Has Been Lost on The Biggest Loser

After last week’s weigh-in, 30,749 lbs. had been lost in total since The Biggest Loser began. It’s quite an accomplishment, and Newman’s Own helped to celebrate with the donation of that much food to Mark’s local Feeding America food bank in Magnolia, Texas, because he won.

After Mark won, I let the contestants know that if they all loaded their trucks, food would be provided to all the hometowns. Despite all the issues on campus, it was a great moment to watch all the contestants work together to help so many others.

Later in the episode, Dolvett peeled back another of Jeremy’s layers, this time getting him to talk about his father, his parents’ divorce and his possible addiction to food. While Jeremy’s childhood clearly left scars, it also made me appreciate who he is more as a person.

Meanwhile, because of Megan’s video diary, all of you got a better sense of everything you don’t normally see on campus – the hours and hours of workout “homework” that the contestants do. As you could see, the work isn’t only done when the trainers are on campus, or when the cameras are rolling. The focus at the Ranch is on nutrition and exercise all the time!

During this week’s challenge, it was hilarious to watch the contestants run through the market and attempt to cook. Leave it to the moms to have finished getting their ingredients first in the market. As someone who loves to cook for my family and myself, it pained me to not be able to help each time I saw a contestant make a tactical error.

The most fun part of that challenge for me was to see Becky, Vinny and Antone again. All three alumni from season 12 are such great representatives of The Biggest Loser. When Antone called Chris out on her excuses, and then went to talk with her at the gym, I thought back to his first week on the Ranch and am so proud of him for all he continues to accomplish.

As you saw, Megan was the one sent home but not before she learned from Bob to work hard and to believe in herself, just like Chris learned this week.

Being a viewer like you and watching Buddy during Zumba was by far my favorite moment of the week. When Buddy first came to campus, he was quiet, somber and serious. Watching him completely let loose with a smile on his face the entire time was awesome!

Now for the personal plug … when you’re at the newsstand this week, in addition to grabbing your PEOPLE, make sure to pick up my Shape cover. It’s the first time I dared to do a bikini cover and it’s because of the confidence I got after receiving such positive feedback when I posed in a bikini for PEOPLE last year.